Putative golden proportions as predictors of facial esthetics in adolescents.
BACKGROUND
In orthodontics, facial esthetics is assumed to be related to golden proportions apparent in the ideal human face. The aim of the study was to analyze the putative relationship between facial esthetics and golden proportions in white adolescents.


METHODS
Seventy-six adult laypeople evaluated sets of photographs of 64 adolescents on a visual analog scale (VAS) from 0 to 100. The facial esthetic value of each subject was calculated as a mean VAS score. Three observers recorded the position of 13 facial landmarks included in 19 putative golden proportions, based on the golden proportions as defined by Ricketts. The proportions and each proportion's deviation from the golden target (1.618) were calculated. This deviation was then related to the VAS scores.


RESULTS
Only 4 of the 19 proportions had a significant negative correlation with the VAS scores, indicating that beautiful faces showed less deviation from the golden standard than less beautiful faces. Together, these variables explained only 16% of the variance.


CONCLUSIONS
Few golden proportions have a significant relationship with facial esthetics in adolescents. The explained variance of these variables is too small to be of clinical importance.
Kiekens
Rosemie M A
RM
Department of Orthodontics and Oral Biology, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Kuijpers-Jagtman
Anne Marie
AM
van 't Hof
Martin A
MA
van 't Hof
Bep E
BE
Maltha
Jaap C
JC
D000293:Adolescent; D001504:Beauty; D002508:Cephalometry; D002648:Child; D005145:Face / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D006801:Humans; D008310:Malocclusion / Q000473:pathology; D008445:Maxillofacial Development; D023861:Photography, Dental; D011379:Prognosis; D012015:Reference Standards; D044465:White People